This past week, I heard a commencement speaker expound on the
need to “live your own truth” instead of the truth assigned to you by
others. There was much in his speech
with which I agreed. I do believe you should
not let other people define or limit you.
You should not allow others to emphasize your weaknesses and pigeon-hole
you as someone who can only do this and not that. It is healthy to enjoy your accomplishments
and set goals which push you past previous limits.
But…
That is NOT the same thing as living your own truth. How on earth do any of us figure out what our
own truth is? What if we are
deluded? What if our upbringing and
prior experiences have impacted us in such subtle ways that we don’t even
realize that our truth is really a composite of the truth of others? As I was growing up, my father repeatedly
told me I was fat and stupid. I believe
he loved me and that he had no idea how his words…which he thought were teasing…were
affecting me. I knew enough to reject
the “stupid” part, since I had a habit of being at the top of my class, but I
bought into the “fat” description. I
felt awkward about my body, insecure about the way I moved, and the way I
looked. It took me years away from home
to get over that. I didn’t even know I
was living something other than my own truth.
The healing thing for me was the realization that I could
live, not my own truth, but God’s truth about me. I began relying on the fact that God has
created each of us uniquely and specially, and that He loves us individually. I’m not talking about “God loves mankind.” I am talking about “God loves me.” When I accepted Jesus into my life as my
personal Savior, I became a child of the King.
He has a plan for me. As I seek
to follow Him, He will give me an assignment…a job that I am better suited for
than anyone else. This is not an
ego-trip which involves living my own truth.
This is absolute confidence in His love for me and His desire to see me
fulfilled. I want to live His TRUTH.
Why would I short-change myself by living my
own truth when I can live His?
